The United States, Canada, India, Japan and South Korea are conducting joint anti-submarine warfare exercises amid talks between Japanese and South Korean leaders aimed at strengthening their alliance with Washington against threats from China and North Korea.
TOKYO — The United States, Canada, India, Japan and South Korea are conducting joint anti-submarine warfare exercises amid talks between Japanese and South Korean leaders aimed at strengthening their alliance with Washington against threats from China and North Korea.
The Sea Dragon 23 exercises that began Wednesday will culminate in more than 270 hours of flight training “ranging from tracking simulated targets to the final problem tracking a US Navy submarine.
Pilots and flight officers from all participating countries will also conduct classroom training sessions to “build plans and discuss tactics that incorporate their respective nations’ capabilities and equipment,” the 7th Fleet said.
The drills are held as a competition, with the country that earns the most points taking home the “Dragon Belt”.
The US Navy is represented by two P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft, currently based in Guam. He did not say where the exercises would take place or how long they would last.
With 50 to 70 ships and submarines, 150 aircraft, and more than 27,000 Sailors and Marines ready to deploy at any time, 7th Fleet “routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners to preserve a free and open Indo-Pacific region.” “, saying.
That includes operating in the South China Sea, where it routinely draws the ire of Beijing by sailing and flying near islands controlled and fortified by China, which claims the strategic waterway virtually in its entirety.
The exercises also come as China’s navy is participating in joint search and rescue exercises in the Gulf of Oman with Iran and Russia, three of the countries most at odds with the United States.
Other nations, as yet unnamed, are also participating in the “Security Bond-2023” exercises, which according to China’s Defense Ministry “will help deepen practical cooperation between the navies of the participating countries…and inject positive energy into regional peace and stability”. .”
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday that the White House was not concerned about the joint training exercise.
China’s dispute with Japan over small islands in the East China Sea has also escalated, with both sides accusing each other of violating their maritime territory.
